LAND With an area of 147,570 sq. km, Bangladesh is situated in the northwest part of South Asia between latitudes 20"34' and 26038' north and longitudes 88"01' and 920"41' east. The country is bordered by India on the east, west and north and by the Bay of Bengal on the south. There is also a small strip of frontier with Myanmar on the southeastern edge.The land is a deltaic plain with a network of numerous rivers and canals. Hilly regions on the northeast and southeast with average elevations of 244 meters and 610 meters respectively mark a variation to the general topography of the country.

The total farm area comprises about 62 percent of the total geographical area, forests account for 15 percent, perennial water 11 percent and urban area only one percent. The beautiful landscape is characterized by small pieces of arable fields.

 

CLIMATE Bangladesh has a tropical monsoon climate marked by the warmth and humidity for the major part of the year. The average annual temperature ranges from 23"C to 30"C. Annual rainfall varies from 160 cm to 200 cm in the West, 200 cm to 400 cm in the Southeast and 250 cm to 400 cm in the Northwest. The country has mainly four seasons: the winter (December to February), the summer (March to May), the Monsoon (June to September) and the autumn (October to November).

The rainless winter is the most pleasant season when the average minimumn temperature is 13.5"C while the maximum is 26"C. Seldom the temperature falls to less than 8"C but never touches the freezing point. Tn the summer average maximum and minimum temperatures are 33.3"C and 22.20C.